The Opelousas courier., 1887-05-07

4 SA0 nohihSaeioa oAG LHC UiANhl gay ID
period of uninterrupted festivities, IL
families of Bride and groom vieing wit
each other in giving dinners and dancin
u parties.
In this city three days i
the week are set apart fl
wedding days; Wednesday, Thurs
9 day and Saturday. Wednesday tn
: lower classes marry, as nc expense is al
tached to the ceremony. Thursday
marriage costs 20 guldcns, and on satur
day double th4t amount, or 500. A
last the wedding day arrives; flowers an
J evcrgreens are .strewn in front of th
house; the young couple, attended b,
relatives and friends, proceed to the STAG
hus, where the marriage knot is tied b,
the Mayor, he being the only one allowed
to perform the civil ceremony. Immedi
atesy after a religious ceremony take.
place. The necessary ceremonies being
concluded, the party proceed to a caf.
or hall, those unsteady inclined singing
lively songs on the way. and the Others
gaily responding to the facetie and con-
CALCULATIONS of the passers by. When
all arc indoors a large silver bowl, used
only at births and marriage feasts (and
loaned if not owned), filed with brandc-
wyn and %raislns, is brought forth and
circulated among the guests, who drink
the liquor with an iron spoon. After
ward a substantial dinner is given, last
ing, in%tcrspersed with singing, dancin.
and amateur theatricals, etc, until the
following day, and to leave the festive
board before the dawn is considered in-
decorous.
TO marry " proxy, OF, as it is called,
marriage by the glove" is prevalent in
Holland, and is caused by the fact that
many OF the eligible young men, after
having flushed their education in the
schools of tho Fatherland, depart for
Dutch India to engage in some lucrative
commercial enterprise or to accept a po-
sition in the colonial service. The
scarcity OF manageable white ladies in
that cline induces the would be husband
to write to q friend in Holland, inclosing
a wish for a wife. The friend selects a
willing young lady, generally with a sub
stantial dot and otherwise conforming
closely to the Specifications of the letter. |
A photograph of the favored one is in.
closed in the return epistle. After the
lapse OF a few months, q soiled left hand
glove, with a power of attorney is re-
ceived from the far away bachelor. The
friend In Holland marr.e s the selected
bride in precisely the same manner as if
ne We're the actual groom, and the young
wife departs in the lex India mail
steamer to bring happiness and pros
perity to the lonely one in the far East. /
A marriage Of this description is as bind
ing as if the bridegroom were present.
and e re%pudiatcd. If either party
the glove marriage should die before
meeting in India, the survivor would
share the property of deceased in accord
ascc with the laws.
The laws in Holland in regard to the
Iegal position Of the wife are very much
behind the age, and the husbanl can do
about as he likes with the person and
property Of his helpmate. The laws are
ilcnt as to the wife's claim on the hus-
band, but legal gentlemen assure me
hat this apparent void in the law book
$ caused by the inyariable devotion of
he Hollander 20 his home and its in.
Love for homo, wife and chill
lren is nowhere more thoroughly illus-
rated than in the Netherlands, and
ases Of neglect to provide in every pos
iblc way arc very rare in the land Of
Iykes.
The wives of the lower classes and
heir daughters try in every imaginable
1ay to aid the husband in procuring d /;
wing In summer time You will observe ,
undreds OF them on their knees ia the /,
ublic squares armed with d three inch !.
spike wedding the grass blades from /.
the stones, for which they re- /.
sive twelve cents per day; others are .
nggaged in wheeling sand into outward /.
ound merchant ships to be used as bal
st. You will see q woman pushing d :
hcelbarrow containing about 300 lbs. !,
sand up . broad gangway inclined !
bout thirty degrees, at . gait simply ]
onderfut considering that the wheeler !.
of the weaker sex. !.
Passing q little farther on you will !.
Get 9 small procession on the towpath !,
the river Amstel, consisting Of the /
and two or three daughters, :
Irncsscd to the towline Of d canal boat. :
ry much In the manner Of American /
alcs. They hang, as it were, ii the
Irncss, and the swinging, regular walk
ed BIZ them proves that a great part of
cir lives has passed in that way. When $
. boat pm abreast you feel like 9,
lag = ropes end On the father Of the J,
niiy. who. placidly smoking a pipe, s
] in the stern steering the vessel; but ],
ur anger viii cool when Investigation 4
1ws thatif he tooE tn fha fnwnafh ard
owed his wife the helm ali damages